Forming an Opportunity Belief
1. I believe that there's an opportunity to target students at UF who walk to class and get really hot and sweaty by the time they get there because of Florida heat. My solution would be to add fans that could possibly mist students along the sidewalks of main parts of campus to keep people cool on their way to class.
2. The unmet need in this situation is that UF is a very large campus, and while there are busses that can take you places many times students walk long distances to get where they need to go. On their walks they can get incredibly sweaty and if they're going to a lecture hall class they have to spend 2 hours in a full room feeling gross from their walk to class. This problem has always existed as Florida is a tropical climate and UF has always been a relatively large school. Currently there's nothing being done to meet this need of the students who just want to not be sweaty when they get to class. I'm confident this is a real issue with an opportunity with it.
3. The prototypical customer is a UF student who has on campus classes.
4. Interview 1: Sierra was very excited about the idea of having a new solution to this problem. She said she experiences this issue every single day on her way to and from class. If the weather is nicer she is okay but since Florida is hot so much it's a very regular issue for her. The first time she experienced this issue was on her way to her first class freshman year. She was surprised by how gross she felt and realized quickly that the clothing she thought she would wear to class just wouldn't work since she would get so hot. Her current solution to this problem is to dress comfortably and with loose clothing that wont show sweat, she tries to stay on the shady side of the street when she can, and drinks lots of cold water. This solution works well for her and she's satisfied with it until the weather reaches above the 90 degree mark which it does regularly and then she said nothing she does helps and she just accepts it.
Interview 2: Melanie thinks this is a real issue since her classes are far away from her apartment but she loves to walk. She faces this issue every single day because she has class 5 days a week and the bus doesn't come very close to where she needs to go. The first time she experienced this problem was freshman year on her first walk to class. She moved here from Texas and was surprised that while it is also hot in Texas it's nothing like the heat of Florida due to the humidity here. This did no go over well for her and she had to quickly adjust to this new climate. Her only solution currently is to wear tank tops and shorts so she can stay cool. She thinks this solution really isn't great and is very interested in something new that could help her.
Interview 3: Lindsey thinks this is an issue, however, she has a scooter so she does not face it as frequently as Sierra or Melanie. She doesn't get too hot since the scooter takes her to class quickly. She does think it becomes a problem when there's a lot of traffic on campus and she has to sit in the sun waiting for the cars to move. Her solution is to wear a hat and hope for the best. She doesn't think this solution works at all for her but since she doesn't face this issue regularly she hasn't thought much about better ways to improve it.
5. The most shocking thing that I realized when interviewing people is that the general consensus was that this was a real issue faced on a daily basis yet no one really had a good solution to it. They agreed they would like a fix however no one has made any moves toward finding a solution. I learned that if this opportunity was capitalized on it would most likely be very successful with the students of UF.
6. a. My original opportunity is still entirely there. I learned through my interviews that this opportunity is something that all most students would appreciate and those who heard it thought it would be a great addition to campus.
b. I think my opportunity is now accurate because when I began I thought of just putting them everywhere on campus but through this interview process I realized the most efficient method would be to just keep them in areas of campus that get the most foot traffic per day. This would still help the issue among the students but keep the electricity usage lower.
c. I believe entrepreneurs should adapt their ideas to their customers. Entrepreneurs are the starting point of a new idea but they are only a small portion of the entire process. The consumers are ultimately are going to be what makes or breaks an entrepreneurs ideas so it's in the entrepreneurs best interest to keep their potential customers wants at the forefront of their minds when creating ideas.
2. The unmet need in this situation is that UF is a very large campus, and while there are busses that can take you places many times students walk long distances to get where they need to go. On their walks they can get incredibly sweaty and if they're going to a lecture hall class they have to spend 2 hours in a full room feeling gross from their walk to class. This problem has always existed as Florida is a tropical climate and UF has always been a relatively large school. Currently there's nothing being done to meet this need of the students who just want to not be sweaty when they get to class. I'm confident this is a real issue with an opportunity with it.
3. The prototypical customer is a UF student who has on campus classes.
4. Interview 1: Sierra was very excited about the idea of having a new solution to this problem. She said she experiences this issue every single day on her way to and from class. If the weather is nicer she is okay but since Florida is hot so much it's a very regular issue for her. The first time she experienced this issue was on her way to her first class freshman year. She was surprised by how gross she felt and realized quickly that the clothing she thought she would wear to class just wouldn't work since she would get so hot. Her current solution to this problem is to dress comfortably and with loose clothing that wont show sweat, she tries to stay on the shady side of the street when she can, and drinks lots of cold water. This solution works well for her and she's satisfied with it until the weather reaches above the 90 degree mark which it does regularly and then she said nothing she does helps and she just accepts it.
Interview 2: Melanie thinks this is a real issue since her classes are far away from her apartment but she loves to walk. She faces this issue every single day because she has class 5 days a week and the bus doesn't come very close to where she needs to go. The first time she experienced this problem was freshman year on her first walk to class. She moved here from Texas and was surprised that while it is also hot in Texas it's nothing like the heat of Florida due to the humidity here. This did no go over well for her and she had to quickly adjust to this new climate. Her only solution currently is to wear tank tops and shorts so she can stay cool. She thinks this solution really isn't great and is very interested in something new that could help her.
Interview 3: Lindsey thinks this is an issue, however, she has a scooter so she does not face it as frequently as Sierra or Melanie. She doesn't get too hot since the scooter takes her to class quickly. She does think it becomes a problem when there's a lot of traffic on campus and she has to sit in the sun waiting for the cars to move. Her solution is to wear a hat and hope for the best. She doesn't think this solution works at all for her but since she doesn't face this issue regularly she hasn't thought much about better ways to improve it.
5. The most shocking thing that I realized when interviewing people is that the general consensus was that this was a real issue faced on a daily basis yet no one really had a good solution to it. They agreed they would like a fix however no one has made any moves toward finding a solution. I learned that if this opportunity was capitalized on it would most likely be very successful with the students of UF.
6. a. My original opportunity is still entirely there. I learned through my interviews that this opportunity is something that all most students would appreciate and those who heard it thought it would be a great addition to campus.
b. I think my opportunity is now accurate because when I began I thought of just putting them everywhere on campus but through this interview process I realized the most efficient method would be to just keep them in areas of campus that get the most foot traffic per day. This would still help the issue among the students but keep the electricity usage lower.
c. I believe entrepreneurs should adapt their ideas to their customers. Entrepreneurs are the starting point of a new idea but they are only a small portion of the entire process. The consumers are ultimately are going to be what makes or breaks an entrepreneurs ideas so it's in the entrepreneurs best interest to keep their potential customers wants at the forefront of their minds when creating ideas.
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